Enough of a Miracle
by lordhellebore
Summary: ONE SHOT: After the war, Remus gets the miracle he wished for. Almost.


**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter_, its characters, and settings belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers; no money is being made with this fanfiction.

* * *

_~ 1 ~_

Severus looks like a corpse between the white sheets. He's too thin, too pale, and he seems to be hardly breathing.

"Severus..."

He's been lying in St. Mungo's like this for weeks – the healers have no idea if he'll ever wake up. They'd planned for three parents for Teddy, but now, with Dora gone and Severus more dead than alive, it looks as though Remus will be alone.

"Severus, please..."

He doesn't want to have to tell Teddy that his other father died a hero, just like his mother.

Remus prays for a miracle to a God he's never known.

* * *

_~ 2 ~_

"Remus!"

Remus drags his eyes away from Dora's tombstone, from the primroses and tentatively growing grass on her grave. It's been almost a year since she died, almost a year since he lost both, her and Severus. There's still no change, and Remus stopped taking Teddy with him to St. Mungo's. He can no longer believe in a miracle.

"Harry? What is it?"

The younger man has been running, now he comes to a halt in front of Remus, grabbing his shoulders tightly.

"It's Snape!"

Remus feels like he can't breathe. "He's dead?"

Harry shakes his head. "He woke up!"

* * *

_~ 3 ~_

Every morning, Remus watches Severus.

When he's still asleep, lying next to him, his hair tousled, cheeks slightly flushed from a night spent together under the covers.

When they get up and dress, long fingers carefully closing button after button on the thick, black robes.

When they have breakfast, Severus and Teddy eating disgustingly sweet porridge which, as Remus tells them regularly, will surely rot their teeth away sooner rather than later.

It's been four years, and Remus sometimes still can't believe that he got his miracle. But Severus is here with them – he's healthy, happy, alive. Nothing else matters.

* * *

_~ 4 ~_

The cellar is the last place Remus would have looked. Usually, Severus never comes down here.

He flinches when Remus touches his shoulder, but doesn't turn around. For the next few minutes, they look at his old lab together – the cauldrons, the potions books and magazines, the bushels of dried herbs, countless boxes and flasks of ingredients. They never had the heart to throw it all out.

"I miss it," Severus finally whispers, reaching for Remus with hands shaking too much to ever brew a potion again.

Not everything is sunshine and roses, but it could have been much worse.

* * *

_~ 5 ~_

Remus never pictured Severus as a person who'd be good with children. From what he'd observed at Hogwarts, all they made Severus feel was annoyance. When Dora had announced to them that she was pregnant – and at the height of the war, even – Severus's reaction had been less than pleased.

Things have changed, though, as has Severus. Remus never gets tired of seeing the two together.

Every day, Severus will walk Teddy to school and back home. Every day, they'll sit down and read together. And every evening, he'll tuck Teddy in for the night.

Remus couldn't ask for more.

* * *

_~ 6 ~_

At dinner, Teddy seems restless and annoyed. He's fidgety, and in the end he knocks over his glass, milk pouring all over the kitchen table and his clothes.

Later, Remus tries talking to him.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Teddy pulls the blanket higher, looking away. "Just…they teased me about Severus again at school."

Remus sighs. "I could talk with him about bringing and getting you. Nine is more than old enough to walk alone."

After a few moments, Teddy shakes his head. "I tried to explain it to them. If they don't understand, it's their problem. They're just stupid."

* * *

_~ 7 ~_

Before the end of the war, Severus always pretended to not care about what others thought of him, and Remus always pretended to believe him.

Now, eleven years later, the people who matter have long accepted Severus, and those who haven't no longer matter.

It's good to eat what he cooked with Andromeda when they visit her, to hear him talk with Harry peacefully, to watch him unwrap a Weasley jumper at Christmas. It's what Remus always wanted, and although he never says it out loud, Remus knows it's what Severus wanted as well.

They got more than one miracle.

* * *

_~ 8 ~_

It's hard, sleeping with Severus next to him each night.

In the beginning, Remus tried making him sleep in his own bed, but each morning, he'd awake to find him back by his side. After six months, he gave up.

Sometimes, it feels like it's too much – being able to watch the man he loves, to hold him, but nothing more. He can't possibly touch a man who has the mind of a child, his brain damaged beyond repair by Nagini's poison.

But Severus is here – they can grow old together. It's enough of a miracle.

It has to be.


End file.
